Riser supports



H. O. PETERSEN RISER SUPPORTS July 18, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 5, 1964 Invenlto r jf'erbe rt O.Petersen.

H. O. PETERSEN RISER SUPPORTS July 18, 19 67 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May a, 1964 Inventor fierberf QPeterse-n aid- 504a M901,

y 1967 H. o. PETERSEN 3,

RI SER SUPPORTS Filed May 5, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor j'lerbert QPecensen JH'l'ornegS United States Patent 3,331,579 RISER SUPPORTS Herbert 0. Petersen, 2413 Central, Evanston, Ill. 60201 Filed May 5, 1964, Ser. No. 364,964 8 Claims. (Cl. 249-14) This invention relates to apparatus for facilitating the construction of forms for receiving concrete or the like to make a concrete stair.

According to present practice, a construction of the form to receive the concrete to form the concrete steps of the desired pitch is a time-consuming and relatively expensive process because of the time and labor involved in laying out the stairs and securing in position the risers of the form. More specifically, in a typical construction, carpenters will lay out the stair outline by inscribing lines on the stringers, which are the boards that form the sides of the forms and the sides of the poured stairs, indicating the length of the riser of each of the stairs and the width of the tread of each of the stairs. The carpenters then nail positioning blocks to the stringers at the riser locations. Next, two carpenters will each take one end of a riser and align the respective ends of the riser with the respective pencilled lines on the opposite stringers and then hold the riser in position while each of the respective carpenters drives spikes through the stringer and into the riser to hold the riser at the proper location. The two carpenters perform the same procedure of aligning a riser and driving in the spike for each of the risers for the stairs.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is facilitating the construction of stair forms for concrete stairs by affording novel brackets on each end of a riser which eliminate the necessity for two carpenters and which facilitate the location and securing of the risers to the stringers.

More specifically, under a further object of the invention, the brackets are secured to the risers in a definite angular position so that the laying out of the pencilled lines for the treads and risers on the stringers can be eliminated and the carpenter merely abuts the brackets against spikes laid out at predetermined distances. In laying out stairs for a given pitch, the width of the tread and the height of the riser are so correlated as to form a triangle the third side of which is a fixed length. Thus, in cases where it is desired to build a number of stairs all having the same pitch, the distance on the stringers between the risers is also a constant distance. With the present invention, spikes are driven into the stringer at each of these fixed distances. It is then a simple matter for a carpenter to lift a riser having the brackets thereon and place the ends of the brackets against the spikes whereby the riser is positioned at the definite inclination without the requirement of laying out the stair on the stringer in pencil form or the employment of an additional carpenter.

Because the risers and brackets are suspended in position on both sides of the stringers by the spikes and brackets, it is a simple matter for the carpenter to then spike each of the brackets to the top of the risers to securely hold the brackets in position.

Another object of the invention is a bracket adapted to be secured to a riser having lugs thereon which are adapted to be abutted against the riser to give support to the riser against the thrust of the concrete or material and which serve to locate the angle of the riser relative to the flange on the bracket. Thus, under this object of the invention, the position of the lugs assures that the riser is located at the desired angle to the bracket and hence to the stringer because the bracket has a right-angled flange adapted to be positioned flat against the stringer,

whereby when the right-angled flange is fiat on the rising surface of the stringer, there is a definite and predetermined angular relationship existing for the stair riser.

Another object of the present invention is to facilitate the knock-down time for disassembling a concrete stair form after the concrete has been formed by providing a lip on the bracket to receive a pry-bar to facilitate the prying of the bracket from the stringer and poured concrete.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bracket which is reversible in a sense that it can be aflixed to either the right or left end of a riser interchangeably so that only a single supply of brackets need be maintained.

Another object of the invention is an adjustable bracket adapted to be secured to the riser and having a portion thereof to be placed over the top surface of the riser so that a single carpenter may set the riser and brackets in position and wherein the bracket is adjustable so as to change the inclination of the riser to accommodate varying degrees of inclination with respect to the risers and to the treads to be formed on the stairs.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art manner of locating a riser between a pair of stringers;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of locating and securing a riser to a pair of stringers according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the bracket shown in FIG. 2 taken along the lines 3-3 in the direction of the arrows of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a bracket secured to the left end of a riser;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another form of the invention of an adjustable bracket adapted to be secured to either the left or right end of a riser;

FIG. 6 is an end view showing the various positions the riser of FIG. 5 can be rotated through and between positions;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken through a stringer showing the bracket of FIG. 5 and its manner of securing the riser into the stringer;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention showing a two-piece bracket having an adjustable flange;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken through a stringer showing the bracket of FIG. 8 secured to a stringer and a riser; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the bracket of FIG. 8 secured to a stringer and holding a riser in position with the concrete poured thereabout.

Before proceeding to a discussion of the present invention, it is best to understand the conventional manner of construction of the stair form to receive the concrete which, when solidified and cured, takes the form of a concrete stairs shown in FIG. 10. A conventional form, FIG. 1, for receiving the concrete consists of a pair of stringers 11 and 12 disposed on opposite sides of the form and a base B extending across the bottom edges 14 of the strin ers to hold the concrete poured between the stringers 11 and 12.

To form the riser portion of the stairs between the treads of the stairs, a riser or board is secured to stringers 11 and 12 for each of the concrete stair risers. The concrete is poured into the form at the top of the form, and the concrete flows downwardly in the trough formed by the stringers 11 and 12 and the base B and rises to engage the rear surface 17 of each of the risers 15. The concrete will rise between the risers to form the tread T, FIG. 10, and thereafter the tread is trowelled to give a smooth tread surface existing between the adjacent risers.

Each of the risers 15 has its lower edge 18 bevelled rearwardly and downwardly to provide clearance for trowelling which permits thereby trowelling of the entire stair tread back to the riser wall solidifying against the rear surface 17 of the riser 15.

In constructing the conventional form, it is usual practice for the carpenters to lay out the stair outline in pencil lines 20 on the interior surfaces 21 of the respective stringers 11 and 12. After the pencil outline 20 is made, the carpenters then aflix on each side of the stringers 11 and 12 locating blocks 22 which are secured to the respective stringers 11 and 12 by spikes 23. The locating blocks 22 are spaced from the riser outline to permit the placing of a riser 15 therebehind. Two carpenters, one on either side of the stringers 11 and 12, then grasp a riser 15 and position the riser 15 against the rearward edge 25 of a locating block 22 so that the rear surface 17 of the riser 15 is aligned with the pencil line 20, whereupon each of the carpenters drives in retaining spikes 26 to secure the riser in position against the rear edge 25 of the supporting blocks 22. The supporting blocks serve to back the riser 15 against the weight of the concrete pushing thereagainst, and also facilitate the locating of the riser prior to the driving of the spikes 26 through the respective stringers into the riser.

Thus, it will be seen that the prior art form requires the laying out of the pencil outline 20 of the stair treads and stair risers, the securing of supporting and locating blocks 22 and the employment of two carpenters to drive the spikes from the outer surfaces 28 of the stringers into the right and left ends of the risers.

An important aspect of the present invention is the elimination of the necessity of using two carpenters to locate and nail the risers in position and to lay out in pencil lines the form of the stair prior to securing supporting blocks in place. Under the present invention, spikes 30 are driven into the upper surface 31 of the stringers 11 and 12 at the predetermined distance between spikes which corresponds to the third side of the triangle, the triangle having two sides formed by the pencil line for the tread and the pencil line for the riser as shown in FIG. 1. This predetermined distance is the third side of a triangle joining the legs represented by the riser and the tread.,

With spikes positioned at the predetermined distance apart, and positioned in a line across from each other on each of the respective stringers 11 and 12, a single carpenter may lift a single riser 15 with attached brackets 35 and place the riser between the stringers 11 and 12 with a flange 36 on each of the brackets in flush contact with the upper surface 31 of the respective stringers 11 and 12. The forward edges 38 of the flanges 36 are abutted against the respective locating spikes 30 and thereby position the riser 15 at the same position the riser 15 was located by the positioning blocks 22 in the prior art form of FIG. 1.

The riser 15 is located at a definite angle and in a definite position relative to the brackets 36 when the riser '15 is positioned flush against supporting and locating means such as lugs 40 struck inwardly from the face plate portion 41 of the bracket 35. The locating means 40 may be of any desired number and configuration, for example, welded on lugs or bolts secured to the bracket 36. As will be readily apparent, the positioning of the riser 15 with its forward face 42 in flush engagement with the lugs 40 locates the riser 15 at a definite angle to the flange 4 35. Thus, when the flange 35 is positioned flush on the surface 31 of the stringers 11 and 12, the riser 15 is held at a predetermined and fixed angle relative to the stringers 11 and 12.

It is to be understood that each of the risers has a bracket 35 secured to its respective left and right ends prior to the lifting and positioning of the riser 15 between the stringers 11 and 12. Preferably, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the face plate 41 of bracket 35 has countersunk holes 47 therein to receive the heads of the spikes 48, three of which are shown, for securing the bracket 35 to an end of the riser 15. The spikes 48 are driven into the end of the riser 15 so that the heads of the spikes do not protrude outwardly of the outer edge of the face plate 41 and hence will not engage the interior surface 21 of the stringers 11 and 12. Thus, the spikes 48 do not cause a space to be present between the face plate and the surfaces 22 of the stringers 11 and 12 and do not interfere with the sliding of the riser 15 and brackets 35 into position between the stringers 11 and 12.

When the riser 15 and attached brackets 35 are positioned against the respective locating spikes 30, the brackets 35 are secured to the respective stringers 11 and 12 by some double-headed spikes 49, FIG. 2, which are driven either into receiving holes 51) in the face plate 41, or into receiving holes 52 in the flange 36. The spikes 49 have a double head so that the spike will not be driven completely into the riser and so that a portion of the head is spaced outwardly of the surface of the bracket for readily being grasped within the claw of a spike puller. Also to assist knock-down time and the release of the riser 15 from the form and the concrete, the forward edges 38 of the brackets 35 are up-turned at 54 so as to leave an opening between the portion 54 of the flange 36 and the top surface 31 of a stringer to permit the point of the pry-bar to be inserted therebetween and to afford a purchase point against which the pry-bar may act to lift the brackets 35 and attached riser 15.

From the foregoing embodiment of FIG. 2, it will be recognized that the brackets 35 are best suited for a given and predetermined angular pitch and angular inclination of the riser of the stair to the tread of the stair. The embodiment of the invention of FIG. 5 includes as an important aspect thereof the ability to be used with different pitches, to vary the height of the riser, and to form a different and varying degree of nose or inclination of the stair riser to the stair tread, as will become apparent from comparing the full line dotted stair lines 20 in FIGS. 5 and 6. With the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 5, it is preferable to provide a stair line 20 inscribed on each of the stringers 11 and 12. With the stair line 20 thus laid out on both stringers 11 and 12, the carpenter will pick up a riser 15 having secured to each of its opposite ends a reversible bracket 60 and place the riser 15 and brackets 60 between the stringers 11 and '12.

The brackets 61} are a flat plate of triangular-shaped sheet metal having a pair of opposed elongated slots 62 therein to receive slideable bolts 63 and locking nuts 64, which serve as a suspending means for the brackets 60 in the manner of the flanges 36 of the brackets 35. That is to say, in lieu of the flanges 36 of the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 2, the brackets 60 employ suspending bolts 63 which are adapted to overlie and engage the top surface 31 of the respective stringers 11 and 12, as a best seen in FIG. 7. The bolts 63 have a large head in engagement with the surface 31 of the stringer and may be provided with an aperture through which a nail may be driven to secure the bolt 63 to the stringer 11 or 12.

It will be realized that the flanges 36 of the brackets v 35 have only one fixed angular relationship to the riser- 15. However, as readily apparent from FIG. 6, a moving of the bolts 63 within the slots 62 permits the bracket 66 and attached riser 15 to be raised, lowered or rotated through different angles. For example, in FIG; 6 the riser -of the slots 62.

Thus, it is a fairly simple matter for a single carpenter to loosen the locking nuts 64 and rotate the bracket and riser until the point 66 of the bracket is aligned with the point 67 inscribed on the stringer 12. Normally the uppermost bolt 63 serves as a pivot point about which the riser and bracket 60 are rotated to position the point whereupon the lowermost bolt 63 is tightened to lock the angular position of the bracket 60.

Turning now to the bracket 60 itself, it will be seen that the bracket 60 has a hand-hole or slot 68 therein whereby the carpenter can readily grasp the bracket and attached riser 15 for lifting and positioning purposes. Such a hole 68 is also useful for prying loose the riser after a step has been poured.

' As most apparent from FIG. 6, the bracket 60 is reversible in a sense that it can be readily secured to either the right or left end of a riser 15. Thus, only a single inventory of brackets 60 need be maintained. The bracket '60 has a first pair of locating and holding means such as lugs 70 and 71, which engage the forward surface 42 of the riser 15 on the left side of the riser. The brackets 60 also have a pair of lugs 72 and 73 which are adapted to be abutted against the exterior surface 42 of the riser 15 when the bracket 60 is attached to the right-hand side of the riser 15.

As best seen in FIG. 7, a bracket 60 has three spaced countersunk hole locations 74A, 74B and 74C to receive the heads of spikes 75 for attaching the bracket 60 to the riser 15. The heads of the spikes 75 may thus be driven flush with the outer surface of the bracket 60 and do not interfere with sliding of the bracket 60 along the interior surface 21 of either one' of the respective stringers 11 and 12. It is to be understood that there is another set of holes 77A and 77B for receiving the spikes 75 when the bracket 60 is secured to the right-hand end of a riser 15. With bracket 60 positioned as shown in FIG. 5, the holes 77A and 77B are available to receive spikes 76 to secure the bracket 60 to the stringer 12, as seen in FIG. 7. Thus, on opposite ends of the riser 15, three of the holes are employed to receive the bracketattaching spikes 75, and the other two holes 74 are available for receiving the spikes 76 to secure the bracket 60 in proper position on the stringer prior to a pouring operation.

It is also to be noted that the lowermost hole 74C is used irrespective of which end of the riser 15 the bracket 60 is secured to, and likewise it should be observed that the lower end of each of the slots 62 terminates in a countersunk aperture to receive one of the spikes 75 or 76.

Finally, the lowermost guiding and positioning lugs 71 and 73 are split from the same knock-out and are adapted to engage the forward surface 42 of the riser 15 irrespective of whether or not it is the right end or left end of the riser 15 to which the bracket 60 is attached.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 8 is similar to the first described embodiment of the invention wherein a flange 36 was integrally and fixedly secured to the face plate 41, except that the flange 80 in FIG. 8 is pivoted for relative movement to the face plate 82 for the bracket 84 shown in FIG. 8. The bracket 84 can be employed in the same manner as the bracket 35 of the first embodiment of the invention so as to eliminate the need for laying out in pencil lines the form of the stairs upon the stringers 11 and 12; or, the bracket 84 can be employed as the second described embodiment of the invention by adjusting the flange 80 and the movement of the riser 15 and attached face plate 82 to give the desired inclination or nose between the riser and tread of the strairs. The face plate 82 has an upstanding lug 85 to receive a pivot bolt 86 to pivotally mount the flange relative to the face plate 82. The flange 80 has a similarly shaped lug 89 bent upwardly from the flange 80 and adapted to be secured in face-to-face relationship with the lug of the face plate 82 when the pivot bolt 86 is secured in position, and a lower plate 87 on the flange 80 is disposed along the interior surface 88 of the face plate 82. The face plate 82 is provided with a countersunk opening 90, FIG. 9, to receive the head 91 of a tightening bolt 92 which, upon the tightening of a nut 93, secures the flange 80 in a fixed location relative to the face plate 82 and thereby in a fixed relationship relative to the riser 15. The face plate 82 has a pair of positioning and locating lugs 94 against which the forward side 42 of the riser 15 is in flush engagement.

As readily apparent from FIG. 9, the face plate 82 has countersunk openings to receive the heads 95 of the spikes 96 driven through the face plate and into the riser 15 to secure the riser 15 against the supporting lugs 94. As is readily understood from the foregoing description, the riser 15 is positioned to have its point aligned with the point 67 of the scribed stair line 20 whereupon the flange 80 is rotated into flush engagement with the surface 31 of the stringer 11 or 12 whereupon the respective bolts 92 and nuts 93 are tightened to lock the flange 80 in position. Spikes 99, FIG. 9, are driven into openings 97 on the flange 80, or alternatively, into openings 98 on the flange 80, or alternatively, into openings 98 on the face plate 82, to secure the bracket 84 in position on its respective stringer 11 or 12.

Thus, the concrete can be poured into the form constituted by the stringers 11, 12, base B and risers 15. The concrete will be disposed against the rear surface 17 of the risers 15, and the area between the risers forms the tread which is open to being trowelled by the carpenter or person pouring the concrete.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention affords a novel bracket adapted for use in constructing stair forms which has eliminated the need for two carpenters and which, in some applications, eliminates the. need for scribing the stair lines 26 on the sides of the stringer. Also, it will be seen that the present invention affords brackets which are adjustable to provide for various pitches of stairs, various depths of risers, and various inclinations of the risers to provide different shapes of noses on the stairs.

The present invention is particularly advantageous in affording a riser with attached brackets which can be retained as a preassembled unit and taken from job to job where the length of the tread is to be a constant dimension. Thus, at each job, after the stringers and base are assembled, the risers with attached brackets are placed as a unit on the stringers and secured in position.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for a form for receiving concrete to make concrete steps therein comprising; a pair of stringers spaced apart from one another and rising at an angle to the horizontal and adapted to receive concrete therebetween, said stringers having a top surface; a plurality of risers disposed between said stringers and adapted to form the riser portion of a concrete stair; and bracket means having a portion thereof secured to the ends of the risers, said bracket means including suspending means thereon to extend over the top surface of said stringers to suspend said risers on said stringers, and said bracket means including a plurality of lugs thereon adapted to be abutted against the sides of the riser to hold the riser against the outward force of the concrete and to locate the riser at a predetermined position relative to the bracket means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said suspending means includes slideable bolt means in slots in said portion of said bracket means attached to said riser, said bolt means being securable to permit said riser to be rotated through different angular positions.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said suspending means includes a flange extending at right angles to said portion of said bracket means secured to the riser, said flange being pivotally connected to said portion of said bracket means and said flange being rotatable to various positions to accommodate different angles of inclination of said riserrelative to said tread.

4. An apparatus for receiving concrete to make concrete steps comprising; a pair of stringers spaced apart and rising at an angle to the horizontal and adapted to receive concrete therebetween; a base plate disposed beneath said stringers and adapted to form the bottom of said steps; a plurality of risers disposed between said stringers and adapted to form the riser portion of the concrete stairs; and bracket means secured to the ends of the risers and adapted to be secured to the stringers to locate said risers at a predetermined inclination to the risers and at a predetermined distance from an adjacent riser; said bracket means including a plate adapted to be secured reversibly to either the right or left side of a riser, said plate having a plurality of lugs placed thereon adapted to be engaged by said riser, some of said lugs being engaged by said riser when said plate is positioned at the left end of said riser and the other of said lugs adapted to be engaged by the riser when positioned at the right end of said riser, said plate having elongated slots therein; and of said riser, said plate having elongated slots therein; and suspending means adapted to be disposed in said slots and to be'movable in said slots to permit rotation of said plate and riser between various angular positions, said suspending means adapted to be locked in position to hold said riser at a given position.

5. A bracket means adapted to locate a riser relative to a stringer and to secure said riser to said stringer at a predetermined angle of inclination, said bracket comprising a face plate; locating means on said face plate to locate said riser relative to said face plate, a flange on said bracket extending at right angles to said face plate and adapted to be mounted in flush engagement with a top surface of said stringer so that said riser is mounted in a predetermined inclination to said stringer, openings in said face plate to receive the heads of spikes therein for attaching said bracket to said riser and to be disposed beneath the outer surface of said face plate so as not to interfere with sliding movement of said bracket along said stringer, said flange being pivotally secured to said face plate and rotatable relative thereto, and securing means for securing said flange in a given position relative to said face plate.

6. A bracket means for positioning and securing in position a riser for a concrete stair form to a stringer thereof, said bracket means including a first series of openings for receiving spikes to attach said bracket means to said riser; a second series of openings in said face plate for securing said bracket means to the opposite end of said riser; a first series of locating means cooperating to position said riser for receiving spikes through said first series of openings; a second set of locating means adapted to cooperate with said first openings to position said riser with respect to said bracket means when spikes are driven through said other end of said riser; a pair of elongated slots in said plate; and slideable nut and bolt means slideable in each of said slots and adapted to be locked in a position on said face plate.

7. A bracket for securing a riser to a stringer as part of a form for pouring concrete stairs and presenting an edge to be aligned with one end edge of the riser, a first set of openings formed in said bracket along one edge for nailing the bracket to such an end of the riser, other openings formed in the bracket and spaced from the firstnamed openings enabling the bracket to be nailed to the stringer, and said bracket having 'at the top thereof means for locating the bracket on the stringer in suspended relation thereon with the riser at the desired pitch, the lastnamed means including slots formed in the bracket for receiving slideably a pair of adjustable locating elements engageable with the top of the stringer.

8. A bracket according to claim 7 wherein the firstnamed openings are countersunk for the ends of the nails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,406,723 2/1922 Caldwell 28720.94 1,586,440 5/1926 Bilyeu 249-14 2,911,690 ll/ 1959 Sanford 28720.94

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

E. MAR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR A FORM FOR RECEIVING CONCRETE TO MAKE CONCRETE STEPS THEREIN COMPRISING; A PAIR OF STRINGERS SPACED APART FROM ONE ANOTHER AND RISING AT AN ANGLE TO THE HORIZONTAL AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE CONCRETE THEREBETWEEN, SAID STRINGERS HAVING A TOP SURFACE; A PLURALITY OF RISERS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID STRINGERS AND ADAPTED TO FORM THE RISER PORTION OF A CONCRETE STAIR; AND BRACKET MEANS HAVING A PORTION THEREOF SECURED TO THE ENDS OF THE RISERS, SAID BRACKET MEANS INCLUDING SUSPENDING MEANS THEREON TO EXTEND OVER THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID STRINGERS TO SUSPEND SAID RISERS ON SAID STRINGERS, AND SAID BRACKET MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF LUGS THEREON ADAPTED TO BE ABUTTED AGAINST THE SIDES OF THE RISER TO HOLD THE RISER AGAINST THE OUTWARD FORCE OF THE CONCRETE AND TO LOCATE THE RISER AT A PREDETERMINED POSITION RELATIVE TO THE BRACKET MEANS. 